Joachim Low to start Kai Havertz over Leroy Sane for Germany’s Euro 2020 opener vs. France

Per a new report from Bild, Joachim Low has made the decision to start Chelsea’s Kai Havertz instead of Bayern Munich’s Leroy Sane for Germany’s Euro 2020 opener against France at the Allianz Arena. There was a feeling amongst Die Mannschaft’s camp that this would be the case based on the team selections for their 11v11 training matches, but Low all but confirmed Havertz’s starting status on Tuesday by placing him in the team with Thomas Muller and Serge Gnabry alongside him in today’s main session scrimmage.

Of course, Havertz, along with Ilkay Gundogan, Timo Werner, and Antonio Rudiger arrived to Germany’s camp in Seefeld, Austria later than the rest of the squad because of their involvement in the Champions League final in Porto, Portugal. Sane started Germany’s 1-1 friendly draw vs. Denmark and Havertz started in the 7-1 friendly win over Latvia.

In the training scrimmage, Low’s main team selection matched the starting eleven that he fielded in the friendly win over Latvia with Havertz, Muller, and Gnabry as the front three attackers, Gundogan, Toni Kroos as the central midfielders, Joshua Kimmich and Robin Gosens as the left and right wing backs, and Mats Hummels, Rudiger, and Matthia Ginter as the center backs just ahead of Manuel Neuer.

It’s clear that Low wants to take a more defensive approach against France to try and thwart Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann, and Karim Benzema. Going for too much of an attacking lineup against the 2018 World Cup winners could be far too risky from Low’s perspective and with Havertz starting, having Sane to bring off of the bench is not a bad option at all. He can come on an inject a pacey spark to proceedings, especially if it’s still goalless at the time or if Germany are in desperate need of a goal.

Rudiger stressed the importance of getting off on the right foot against France; “we have to be ready to win one-on-one situations. Not always to try everything dear, dear, playfully beautiful, but also to set standards — and early!”